In 1975 Fred Hutch opened its doors as one of the first of eight new comprehensive centers authorized by the 1971 National Cancer Act. Founded by Seattle oncologist and surgeon Dr. Bill Hutchinson, he named it in honor of his younger brother, Fred Hutchinson. Fred was a Major League Baseball pitcher and manager who died of cancer in 1964 at the age of 45.
Without a massive endowment or a hospital to call his own, Dr. Hutchinson assembled a team of doctors and scientists to accomplish three missions:
- Investigate the fundamental biology of cancer,
- Study the spread, control and prevention of disease, and
- Achieve a cure for leukemia and other blood diseases through bone marrow transplantation.
Despite setbacks along the way, the small but mighty team that started Fred Hutch persisted, establishing a cure for blood diseases that continues to save the lives of thousands of patients around the world and launching a new era of medicine that seeks to harness the power of the human immune system.
Dr. Robert Day was the second president immediately following Bill Hutchinson and is the longest serving president and director, holding that role from 1981 to 1997. He also played a key role in the land acquisitions in Seattle to create the South Lake Union campus in 1993, moving Fred Hutch from its original headquarters on First Hill.
Dr. Paul Neiman, a transplant physician and cancer biologist, was a founding member of Fred Hutch. He helped establish and lead the Basic Sciences Division, serving as its first director from 1981 to 1995 and played a key role in forming the division that later became Human Biology. He retired in 2010.
Dr. Lee Hartwell served as president and director of Fred Hutch from 1997 to 2010. A renowned geneticist, he made groundbreaking discoveries about the cell cycle, identifying key mechanisms that regulate cell division. His work, which earned him the 2001 Nobel Prize, was foundational to understanding how cancer develops. During his leadership, Fred Hutch expanded its research programs and solidified its reputation as a leader in cancer and biomedical research.
Dr. John Hansen joined Fred Hutch in 1977 and remained until his retirement in 2018. He made pivotal contributions to transplantation immunology making bone marrow transplants safer. He also played a key role in the worldwide establishment of volunteer donor registries for potential bone marrow or blood stem cell donors.
Drs. Karl Erik and Ingegerd Hellstrom were early department recruits that helped establish and lead programs in cellular and tumor immunology. They joined in 1973 and went on to become key researchers in cancer immunology.
Dorothy “Dottie” Thomas was known as the “mother of bone marrow transplantation” for the years she spent working as a research partner alongside her husband, Don. She served as chief administrator for the Clinical Research Division for 15 years. She also managed his research programs and provided other vital support for grants and bone marrow transplant research.
